92
R. BRUCE
knowledge of the language. English for Mongkut was the key to the new knowledge. What he had started with the French bishop he now continued more avidly with the American missionaries. Geography, mathematics and especially astronomy fascinated him and he found no inconsistency between Buddhism and science. He placed no obstacles in the way of the American Presbyterians who, like the Catholic Bishop, were invited to discuss religion and to preach their doctrine.
Here then was an unusual Abbot of a Buddhist monastery in nineteenth century Siam; not that Buddhists are ever inimical to other faiths but Mongkut excelled in liberalism. As a devout and learned monk he had brought fresh inspiration and discipline to his religion. As a monk he had come to know his people and his country better than any of his royal predecessors. And because of his intellectual stamina he had acquired a greater knowledge of Western civilisation than any of his contemporaries.
When Mongkut became King Rama IV in 1851 he had been a monk for twenty-seven years. The kingdom which he inherited was a feudal corner of Asia, an absolute monarchy in which the people were forbidden to look upon the face of the King. Slavery was common, polygamy normal. The economy was primitive, the population small, there were no roads and no schools. Except for a few missionaries and merchants there was practically no contact with the Western world, King Mongkut determined to change all this. Nobody urged him, there was no popular discontent, no demand for reform. He was his own most radical liberal.
Within a year of his accession decrees came from the Palace "by Royal Command, reverberating like the roar of a lion" which began the slow process of change. The people were invited to look at the King when he moved among them, not to shut their windows and run away. Citizens could send him petitions on any matter and he would investigate each complaint. He did not abolish slavery but he insisted on good treatment for slaves. Nothing was too detailed for him: he issued edicts on the safe construction of fire-places and ovens and the improvement of window fittings. To prevent disease he ordered that dead animals should not be thrown in the canals. He reformed the currency, replacing lumps of gold and silver with flat coins.
92
R. BRUCE
knowledge of the language. English for Mongkut was the key to the new knowledge. What he had started with the French bishop he now continued more avidly with the American missionaries. Geography, mathematics and especially astronomy fascinated him and he found no inconsistency between Buddhism and science. He placed no obstacles in the way of the American Presbyterians who, like the Catholic Bishop, were invited to discuss religion and to preach their doctrine.
Here then was an unusual Abbot of a Buddhist monastery in nineteenth century Siam; not that Buddhists are ever inimical to other faiths but Mongkut excelled in liberalism. As a devout and learned monk he had brought fresh inspiration and discipline to his religion. As a monk he had come to know his people and his country better than any of his royal predecessors. And because of his intellectual stamina he had acquired a greater knowledge of Western civilisation than any of his contemporaries.
When Mongkut became King Rama IV in 1851 he had been a monk for twenty-seven years. The kingdom which he inherited was a feudal corner of Asia, an absolute monarchy in which the people were forbidden to look upon the face of the King. Slavery was common, polygamy normal. The economy was primitive, the population small, there were no roads and no schools. Except for a few missionaries and merchants there was practically no contact with the Western world, King Mongkut determined to change all this. Nobody urged him, there was no popular dis- content, no demand for reform. He was his own most radical liberal.
Within a year of his accession decrees came from the Palace "by Royal Command, reverberating like the roar of a lion" which began the slow process of change. The people were invited to look at the King when he moved among them, not to shut their windows and run away. Citizens could send him petitions on any matter and he would investigate each complaint. He did not abolish slavery but he insisted on good treatment for slaves. Nothing was too detailed for him: he issued edicts on the safe construction of fire-places and ovens and the improvement of window fittings. To prevent disease he ordered that dead animals should not be thrown in the canals. He reformed the currency, replacing lumps of gold and silver with flat coins.
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